The Flow To Freedom
by TheFirstTrio
Summary: AU. When you open Pandora's Box, you can't close it. When Bendy takes over the Studio, the Ink Demon makes everything his fun game. How can Alice Angel, Boris, and the others survive this Bendy Hell? And can Henry save his creations from themselves?


_**The Flow To Freedom**_

_**Chapter One: Skipping Records**_

"_You never realize what a good memory you have until you try to forget something__." –Franklin P. Jones _

The first noise she heard was a wet slopping noise. The first thing she felt was wetness and being dropped onto something hard. The world was muffled and her body hurt terribly. Her face in particular was incredibly tender and felt off. In fact, everything felt off. She tried to breath, only to suck in warm ink. Panic seized her and she began to claw and kick at whatever was containing her.

Struggling to break free of the pulsating bubble of ink she was contained within, Alice Angel eventually tore through the ink like a newborn bird breaking through an eggshell, although one that more like a ball of skin than an actual egg. Retching painfully, the angel spat up ink that was in her lungs, desperately clearing the fluid as she tried to suck in clean air.

Her vision was still blurry, but she could tell she was in a large room. The sound of machinery filled the air, which assailed her ears with surprisingly gentle grinding gears, hum of electricity, and flow of fluid. The cartoon was dazed and confused. She couldn't remember anything clearly right now. Where was she?

Her vision was still clearing, so she tried to stand up. She found her legs weren't functioning very well and she barely made it half way before her wobbling legs gave out on her, dropping her back into the remains of her ink…bubble? Cocoon? She took in a few shaky, deep breaths as she elected to just rest and gather her strength. Maybe her vision would clear up soon.

Alice wasn't sure how long she remained in the slop of her birth, but eventually her vision had cleared up enough she could finally see where she was.

She was in a fairly large room, with a wooden set of stairs leading up to a balcony of some sort. Danger signs were posted near the edge of the balcony. As her gaze drifted along the room, she realized there was some sort of hoist system installed in the room, all meant to heft something up with considerable weight. As Alice looked behind herself, using her arms to pivot around, she came face-to-face with a massive machine. A machine she just _knew._ In the cloudiness of her mind, the machine was clear.

_The Ink Machine._

The large, square-like machine was covered in various gears, pipes, and pistons, with a half a dozen long pipes coming from it's belly and descending into a seemingly endless, square shaped hole the machine had likely risen from. For huge chains held the monster up, explaining the hoist system. The front of the machine sported a large exit nozzle with tray fro catching whatever it spat out. However, it had clearly flung her with enough force the reach the lower level.

'_Well, I'd better count my lucky stars. That looks like a steep drop,'_ Alice thought as she briefly attempted to peer into the pit the Ink Machine had been lift up from. However, who had raised the machine? Surely, someone had operated it.

Alice tried to speak and was surprised at her own voice. It just sounded…_wrong._ She could hear her own voice at first, but found another voice would overpower the one she knew as hers before fading. It gave her an eerie, two tone voice that made her shiver.

"H-Hello? Is…i_**s anyone **_here?" Alice choked out before breaking down into a violent coughing fit that produced more flecks of ink, which splattered onto her hand as she tried to cover her cough.

The state of her hand caused her to pause and actually, truly, begin to inspect herself. What was wrong with her?

Her hands should have white gloves on them; she was positive they should. But gone was the white glove. Her hands were much more slender and totally black, almost to her shoulders. They looked human! She looked down at her body and realized she looked much more human than she remembered herself. She had the black flapper dress she loved so much (it had straps, she noted), but her body was human looking. At least she wasn't like some human gals and sported a stick figure look. She had curves at least. But she felt wrong and looked wrong. She reached up to her face and felt…she wasn't sure what she was feeling on the left side of her face.

Lumps. Ink. Gapping holes in her cheeks. She needed a mirror and she needed one right now.

She forced herself onto her feet and took several shaky steps forward as her body finally responded to her commands to move. She headed towards the stairs, grasping the wooden handrail tightly. She started up with steps with a good clip, something she regretted immensely when she reached the top. Who knew stairs could be so exhausting?

"**Come on, Alice**, a pair of stairs _ain't gonna do_ you in. You got this," Alice muttered to herself as she encouraged herself to press on. She was on the balcony at least. That was a start. She noticed the exit on her left, which she took. It led into a hallway that immediately banked to the right. She continued to follow it, noticing how there were overstressed pipes everywhere. The walls and floors where splattered with ink, and puddles slowed her progress as she avoided them.

A memory stirred in her still confused mind. Why was she in Joey Drew Studios? What was going on here right now? She was so confused. She remembered the Studio and how her Creator was here. He had drawn her, Bendy, and Boris here (although Bendy had come first.) But why did she remember the halls fairly well? She had never…

Her head exploded into agony as both hands shot up to the sides of her head. It hurt so badly right now. Her vision blurred again and she slumped into the wall of the hallway, whimpering like a wounded animal. Memories where coming to her, mostly in flickers, some making no sense, others making complete sense.

'_NO! No, no, no, no! She's worthless. Try again!'_

'_Bendy, you know the Creator wouldn't just abandon us!'_

'_How could you do this to me!? Replace me just like—'_

'_I'm Alice Angel!'_

'—_you lied to me—'_

'_She'll be more popular than—' _

'_You're my friends, Bendy, Boris. Thanks for—'_

Alice Angel screamed bloody murder as she yanked at her medium length hair, yanking away inky colored hair as she smacked her head against the wall. She wanted the memories to stop; she needed them to stop! It hurt too much, it hurt!

Her legs buckled out from under her and she slid down the wall shoulder first, shaking and convulsing. The memories didn't stop.

'—_Henry's gone, but I guess that's—'_

'_Feathers, you're such a dolt sometimes…'_

'_Boris, you saved me a donut, how kind—' _

'_Worthless! Worthless angel can't even bring in any revenue!' _

'—_gonna smelt it down—' _

"**STOP IT!"** Alice finally screamed as she broke down into tears, black tears rolling down her face as she sobbed. She didn't understand what was happening to her. All she knew was her friends weren't here, she was alone, everything hurt, and she didn't look or feel right. She was scared to death right now. She curled into a fetal position as she shook from her sobbing. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home!

'_What is home? Where is home? I don't know. I'm not sure…'_

She cried for a while. Maybe it was unbecoming of an angel who usually was the one who stop Bendy from being too aggressive with his pranks or derailed them all together. She was confident and proud in herself. She had been happy with her friends, as odd as they were.

But right now, she wasn't confident. She wasn't proud.

She was as scared as a newborn babe without any protection in the world.

"Bend_y? Boris? _Please, one of **you has gotta** be here. _**Please!"**_ Alice called out as she forced herself onto all fours and eventually back onto her feet. She had to find them after she found a mirror. She was still highly concerned about her physical appearance; an unease pit in her gut told her she wasn't going to like what she say.

Looking around the hallway, there were several doors and a entrance points to other hallways. However, the door that got her attention was one for the ladies' restroom. She staggered over to the door, pushing it open with a whiny squeak. Pulling her exhausted form into the bathroom, she froze when she finally saw herself in the mirror. Her eyes—no, her _eye_—widened and her jaw dropped in horror. She slowly walked towards her reflection, reaching out with a shaking arm.

Her face. Her body. Her entire everything was wrong. She could have lived with her human body—it looked good. But her face was a complete mess. She was a monster.

Her halo was broke and partly jammed into the left side of her head, hanging out at an angle. Her horns looked sharper than usual. She had no pie shaped eyes anymore and only one she could see was a brightly glowing yellow one. The left side her face was melting and sporting tumorous lumps, with her teeth exposed. Ink oozed from her empty eye socket. And her neck looked like it had been slit, ink oozing from it.

Her world was spinning. How could her friends see her like this? She looked horrific. She walked back until her back hit the front of a bathroom stall, finally sliding down it as she tried to calm down. She tried to sing her tune, but her shaking breathing and wet voice only served to make everything worse.

"I'm the cutest little _angel sent from above_ and I k-know just h-how to swing," Alice started shakily, barely able to hold any tune at all. "I got a **bright lil' h-halo and** f-filled…with…love…!"

The broken cartoon covered her mouth as she whined and tried to stifle a sob.

"_I'm Alice…Angel…"_

The tears flowed too easily now.

"**I'm Alice…Angel…"**

She wasn't an angel; she was a freak.

"I'm…"

Alice couldn't sing anymore. She cried and she cried her inky heart out. What did she deserve to have this happen to her? Her body corrupted, her friends gone, and everything hurting. Why did she deserve this? Had she upset the Creator? Had she sinned horribly?

"Help me…someone…help me, please…"

Deep in the pits of the Studio, someone heard her.

"**Heh. Looks like feathers needs a hand. Good thing I'm always watchin' and listenin'!"**


End file.
